SDP Activist Ng E Jay hits at Reform Party

Singapore Democratic Party activist Ng E Jay poured cold water on the Reform Party, in a letter to the Straits Times forum, saying it's "no big deal" for a former government scholarship holder, Mr Tony Tan, to join the Reform Party.

In Ng E Jay's letter, he said that the recent news report on a former government scholarship holder joining the Reform Party as a "non-event".

He also betrayed the opposition by agreeing with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's assessment that "we should not judge political candidates based on their paper credentials, but on what they can do for society."

Perhaps referring to Mr Tony Tan from Reform Party, Ng E Jay continued to state that "It is time we look past superficial measures of success like academic credentials, and pay more attention to an individual's track record at work and in community service, which are more accurate indicators of his calibre."

Read the entire forum letter written by Ng E Jay below:

Jan 30, 2010

Ex-scholarship holder in opposition? No big deal

I REFER to the report on a former government scholarship holder joining an opposition party ('Ex-Admin Service officer joins Reform', Jan 20).

While some have hailed this as a significant plus for the opposition, I view it as a non-event.

First, many talented graduates have joined the ranks of the opposition in recent years, but many of them have opted to keep out of the spotlight, preferring to build a credible profile first. For example, Workers' Party secretary-general and Member of Parliament for Hougang, Mr Low Thia Khiang, mentioned recently that his party has been recruiting new members, many of whom are probably academically well qualified.

Second, I agree with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong's assessment that we should not judge political candidates based on their paper credentials, but on what they can do for society. Using Mr Lee's yardstick, I judge many opposition candidates favourably as they provide an alternative voice for the people, regardless of their qualifications. In fact, good grades are irrelevant to being a good politician, as the work of serving the community requires the heart more than the head.

It is time we look past superficial measures of success like academic credentials, and pay more attention to an individual's track record at work and in community service, which are more accurate indicators of his calibre.

Ng E-Jay

YD Jarrod Luo snubbed by WP Sylvia Lim

The National University of Singapore Students' Political Association (NUSPA) and Socialist Democratic Club recently organised a policy forum - "Policy Face-off - Immigration Policies: How many is enough?"

The Facebook event wall stated: "All Staff / Students need to flash their Staff ID / Matriculation Card to gain entry into the venue." (See facebook event)

Interestingly, Jarrod Luo from the Young Democrats, youth wing of Singapore Democratic Party, managed to enter the theatrette.

Jarrod Luo was quick to pose a question to Ms. Sylvia Lim, Chairman of Workers' Party, regarding her views on Minimum Wage, in a brazen attempt to challenge her. Some of the participants were puzzled because the forum was dealing with "Immigration Policy", and the question appeared out of topic.

Charismatic as she is, Ms. Sylvia Lim snubbed Jarrod Luo, by disagreeing with Jarrod Luo's view that Minimum Wage policy should be enforced in Singapore. Ms. Sylvia Lim even went to the extent of agreeing with the PAP Government's take on Minimum Wage. After this "smack-in-the-face" response, Jarrod Luo hurriedly retreated to his seat. It's interesting to see how shallow Jarrod Luo appeared to be. Perhaps just reiterating the party's stand on Minimum Wage, Jarrod Luo didn't seem to be able to convince the audience on Minimum Wage policy.

Jarrod Luo could have read more about Workers' Party before jumping on to Ms. Sylvia Lim.

In the Workers' Party Manifesto 2006, under the heading of "Labour Policy and CPF", it was stated that "* The minimum wage in Collective Agreements should be strictly enforced. Union leaders should educate employees on their minimum wage and to make a report if they have been "short-changed"."

Minimum Wage Policy and "minimum wage in Collective Agreements" are both different issues.

By not understanding counterparts in the opposition, Jarrod Luo humiliated himself in the theatrette, with close to 300 staring at him.

For those who want to know more about Jarrod Luo, you may wish to read "Forumers point out Jarrod Luo's involvement in Sunshine Empire" & "Who's Jarrod Luo?"

John Tan's remarks deeply offensive to Muslims

This article is in follow up to my novel article "SDP's John Tan plays the religion card"

The Singapore Democratic Party's Christmas greeting video has disturbed several online Muslims netizens, local and abroad.

In the video, John Tan, SDP's Assistant Secretary General (#2 man in SDP), repeatedly used the words "Jesus" and "Bible" in a span of 7 minutes. The Christian Messiah complex of the video has obviously offended Singaporeans of other religious groups.

John Tan mentioned that being "jolly" means different things to "different" people, and added that "being jolly is to continue to fulfill the mission Christ came to impart to us".

What does he mean by "different" people? Singaporeans might choose to believe in different religions, but how does that made us "different" people?

And do we Muslims get less "jolly" because we are not fulfilling "Christ" mission?

Our society is multiracial and multireligious. John Tan's insensitive remarks could have triggered an "Allah" saga, as observed in Malaysia, if not for the poor outreach of the party and lack of awareness of SDP online.

John Tan also claims that Muslims follow the Christian's path of non-violence. Citing the example of Abdul Ghaffar Khan, who was suspected of attempting to assasinate the founder of Pakistan and who was viewed by Pakistanis as a traitor, John Tan gave a distorted image of reality.

In an attempt to win over Christians to the Singapore Democratic Party, John Tan asked netizens to "join" him in his crusade.

By drawing religious lines, John Tan has lost my vote indefinitely, and many Muslims' votes for his irresponsible sensationalised remarks and illogical comments.

SDP eyeing Tampines GRC

Singapore Democratic Party is eyeing Tampines GRC in the upcoming General Elections, reported The Straits Times.

"The Straits Times understands that the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) has approached the NSP, saying it may be keen to contest in Tampines GRC."

Other than the National Solidarity Party (NSP), the Reform Party and the Workers' Party are also interested in fielding candidates for Tampines GRC.

In the General Election 2006, the GRC was contested by both PAP and Singapore Democratic Alliance (SDA), which the NSP was part of it then.

NotMySDP understands that the Tampines GRC turf has been worked by NSP and the WP over the years. NSP has fielded candidates in the Tampines GRC, while WP has always been active in the Northeast region. SDP has never contested in the area before.

As to why SDP is jumping on Tampines GRC, the best explanation is:

Asked about the opposition challenge, Tampines GRC MP Ong Kian Min said: ‘They are interested because this is a small and compact space. With their limited resources, it helps when they don’t need to spread out to cover the area.’

What else to expect from opportunistic SDP? Besides selling the party newspapers, visiting prisons, and attending international forums, the SDP has not did their ground work in Tampines.

No support for Chee Soon Juan by Singaporeans

Singapore Democratic Party proudly pasted a press release by the Council for a Community of Democracies, condemning the jailing of Chee Soon Juan, the Secretary General of SDP.

I must salute the Singapore Democratic Party over the way it profiles itself online, as a very glamorous organisation, with so many alliances with international bodies, yet appears to be victimised in Singapore.

So what really is this "Council for a Community Democracies"?

The Council for a Community Democracies (CCD) are staffed with 25 civil society leaders, who are all from the United States of America. With no representation from Asia, I wonder how the council can be effective in pushing for democracy outside the USA.

The CCD seeks "to establish a global network of democratic countries with the principal aim of fortifying democratic governance everywhere". However, since its inception in 2000, the CCD still has no Asian and European representation in its council. It is far from a "global network", it's just a "USA network".

A quick glance through its activities shows that the CCD is more talk than action. There were no signs of positive results from its activities. The CCD often merely acts as a body to condemn the actions of other countries/governments/organisations.

Hey... But Chee Soon Juan won the Defender of Democracy Award!

The award is given by Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA). According to its website, "The Defender of Democracy Award is presented to individuals who, through their own commitment and active engagement, have made significant progress in strengthening democracy and democratic practices. "

Chee has intimate ties with many foreign organisations and foreigners. A very good example is Robert Amsterdam, who frequently condemns the Singapore government in favour of Chee. With his ties, it's not difficult to imagine how he won this award.

Just ask yourself - Has Chee made SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS? Through his OWN commitment and ACTIVE engagement?

SDP's Proxy Alex Tan Zhixiang defects

The latest proxy of Singapore Democratic Party has declared on his blog that he had defected to Singapore People's Party (SPP).

With the support of anonymous netizens, Alex Tan Zhixiang launched numerous attacks against Young PAP members. SDP's Young Democrats also pitched in to discuss with him via facebook regarding political issues.

SPP is now led by the former Secretary-General of the SDP, Mr Chiam See Tong. Chiam was the one who groomed SDP's Chee Soon Juan. When Chee Soon Juan performed a high-publicity hunger strike over the misappropriation of funds, which led to him being sacked by his employer NUS, Chiam opposed to it. However, Chee Soon Juan soon became the publicity boy for the party and caused a split within the party, finally resulting in the ouster of Chiam.

Chiam sued SDP, and the court ruled in favour of Chiam that it was illegal for the party to expel him. That meant Chiam could retain his seat in parliament. By the next General Election, Chiam founded a new political party, the Singapore People's Party.

Alex Tan Zhixiang also referred to Chiam See Tong, as the Respectable Chiam. It is no wonder why he had picked SPP over SDP.

And our team wishes him all the best.

SDP's John Tan plays the Religion Card

Hello everyone. I'm Nur Aishah and one of the founding members of the NotMySDP team. I'm compelled to stand forward, writing in my own name, to defend something that is so important to me, and which had been insulted by Singapore Democratic Party's Assistant Secretary General, John Tan, in his Christmas video message.

In a video with a duration span of less than 8 minutes, John Tan mentioned the word "Jesus" more than 13 times.

According to SDP's website, John Tan was a bible scholar and a missionary intern. He was previously a lecturer at James Cook University but was expelled after he was charged in court for his group's "Tak Boleh Tahan" protest. He is now a "social psychologist", as stated on the party's main site.

If John Tan had made the Christmas message a personal one, I wouldn't mind. BUT, he was speaking for the party - Singapore Democratic Party - and so whatever he said must be held accountable to Singaporeans, of all races and religions.

Beginning with Jesus' story from the bible, John Tan went ahead to invoke Christianity beliefs that justified SDP's ideology.

John Tan also went ahead to say how Jesus enlightened other religious prophets to follow his steps.

I wonder why has no one charged him for saying such irresponsible and anti-religious harmony.

To John Tan & SDP members who subscribed to such anti-religious harmony sentiments, you are the FOXes!